The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly to a multiple terminal high energy handling connector capable of self alignment and blind plugging.
In an N+1 power supply system, N power converters are needed to provide full system power, with one additional power supply for back up. If a concurrent maintenance feature is provided, which allows replacement of a failed unit without removing the voltage from a common bus into which the converter connects, a failed unit can be replaced while the remaining power converters are still operating providing power to the load for uninterrupted operation.
When each of the converters operate at high currents, 60 to 200 amperes, for example, and have input voltages of approximately 480 VAC and DC output voltages of approximately 350 volts and 50 amperes, connectors are not available allowing self aligning blind plugging of multiple contact connectors on different planes of the chassis of the power supply while providing mechanical protection of the terminals and electrical isolation of the contacts. When high voltages and currents are present, connectors by design must be larger and have increased spacing between terminals. Bus bars carrying the high voltage to which the converters have to connect have wider spacing to avoid arcing. These conditions combine to increase the difficulty in achieving self alignment of multiple contacts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a high voltage, high current multiple terminal pluggable connector which is capable of blind plugging and self alignment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a high voltage, high current multiple terminal pluggable connector which is capable of blind plugging and self alignment of widely spaced connectors.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a high voltage, high current multiple terminal pluggable connector which is capable of blind plugging and self alignment of widely spaced connectors located on different parallel surfaces.